1. The Technical Field
Exemplary embodiments of the invention relate to packaging. More specifically, embodiments of the invention relate to packaging templates that may be assembled into a box without requiring the packaging template to be glued together.
2. The Relevant Technology
In many industries, packaging materials are used to deliver products to clients. Often such packaging materials take the form of boxes which the products are place in for delivery. Such boxes may, of course, be of virtually any size and configuration. It may be that the product is placed directly inside the box without any additional protection. In other cases there may be some additional protection or cushioning provided. For instance, foam peanuts, bags of air, bubble-wrap, and the like may be used to protect a fragile or other product.
When an item is placed directly inside of a box, care is often taken to select a box that has dimensions that generally correspond to the dimensions of the item being boxed so that the item fits snugly within the box. Such may be desirable to prevent excess movement of the item and, consequently, reduce the shaking or movement of the item therein. The dimensions of standard sized boxes, however, often do not correspond to the size of the items being packaged therein. As a result, the items being packaged routinely do not snugly fit in standard sized boxes. To avoid excessive movement of the packaged items in such cases, additional cushioning is often placed in the box around the item.
Packaging items in boxes that are too large or that require additional cushioning is costly and inefficient. For instance, the additional material used in creating the larger packages and in cushioning items packaged therein increases the cost of packaging the items. Furthermore, storing a large assortment of premade boxes can require significant amounts of storage space that could otherwise be eliminated or more efficiently used. Moreover, packages that are too large for a particular item are more expensive to ship. Shipping prices are often affected by the size of the shipped package, and not just the package. Thus, reducing the size of an item's package can reduce the price of shipping the item.
To avoid such costs and inefficiencies, systems have been developed for creating custom sized boxes. Such systems create templates out of a planar material which may be folded to form boxes. The templates include sections that, when folded, form the sidewalls of the box. The templates also include flaps that, when folded, form the tops and bottoms of the boxes.
Prior to assembling such a template into a box, opposing sidewall sections are attached together to hold the template in a generally rectangularly shaped tube. The opposing sidewall sections are attached to one another via a glue tab. The glue tab is often integrally formed with and extends from one of the sidewall sections. Glue is applied to the glue tab and/or the opposing side wall section and the glue tab is secured to the opposing sidewall section. The glue is then allowed to set, after which the template may be arranged into a box shape, filled, and shipped.
Although the above-described custom sized boxes may reduce the costs and inefficiencies associated with using standard sized boxes, there are still some inefficiencies associated with these custom sized boxes. For instance, glue and glue applicators must be purchased and stored. Additionally, the glue must be given time to cure before assembling the template into a box.
Accordingly, it would be advantageous to have a box template that may be assembled into a box relatively quickly and which is custom sized to fit the item being packaged.